How to care for aloe plants - experts share tips for long-lasting succulents

Learning how to care for aloe plants is reasonably simple, making them a great choice for any serial plant killers out there (you know who you are). They're structural and interesting, providing a hit or architectural beauty to a room. 

Aloe vera is one of the best-known houseplants, down to the widespread use of the cool gel inside its leaves. Incredibly, given the right circumstances, they can grow to giant size from just a little cutting. Admittedly, this can take a couple of decades, but when looked after well they just keep on going. 

'Aloe vera plants are succulents - sleek, stylish, and relatively easy to care for,' says Whitney Bromberg Hawkings, co-founder of FLOWERBX. 

Here are some ways to make sure they are happy in your home.

How to care for aloe plants

1. Place your aloe plant somewhere warm

Aloe Vera plants thrive in warm temperatures - not too sunny, yet certainly away from cold spots and draughts. 

'Place your plant in a bright spot but out of too much direct sunlight,' says FLOWERBX's Whitney Bromberg Hawkings.

'Aloe plants are used to growing in hot, sunny conditions, so they’ll do well in a spot with lots of bright light, and not so well in the shade,' says Patch Plant's Richard Cheshire. 'They also won’t cope well with the cold, so try and keep your plant away from cool breezes and draughts.'

And the Sprout Home team adds: 'Aloe can make for an easy plant to take care of and handle less direct sun than most other succulents but still want a good couple of hours, part sun, ideally.'

2. Don't over water your aloe plant

 Be careful not to show your aloe plant too much love.

'Succulents retain moisture, so water sparingly, only ever when the soil is dry to touch,' suggests Whitney. You only need to water an aloe vera plant around once every three weeks. 

Richard Cheshire, Patch Plant Doctor, concurs, commenting:  'Their leaves hold a lot of water, so your aloe plant won’t need frequent watering, only when the soil is completely dry.'

He adds: 'All that water makes them quite heavy, so they’ll need a sturdy pot to avoid tipping over.'

3. Feed your aloe plant once a month

'Treat your aloe vera plant to a healthy dose of succulent fertilizer in the spring and summer months to keep it looking its best,' suggests Whitney. 'Once a month should be perfect.'

Sprout Home agrees a light feed will do your aloe wonders, adding: 'Make sure to use succulent/cactus mix and let them dry down in between watering as to not oversaturate them thereby more likely to get root rot.'

4. Keep it away from pets

Although aloe vera plants are well known to be used for medicinal and beauty purposes, they should never be consumed - as they are poisonous to both humans and pets.